OLD AGE. 537 



Stature decreases Avith age. According to numerous measurements 

 men lose, between 50 and 85 years, more than '^ centimeters (8.166), 

 women still more (4.3 centiHieters). Sometimes this loss may reach 

 6 or even T centimeters. 



"Weight also diminishes during old age. According to (^uetelet, the 

 maximum weight of men is attained at 40 years of age, of women at 

 50. From 60 years onward weiglit diminishes and at SO years this 

 loss amounts, on the average, to 6 kilograms. 



The diminution in the height and weight of the hody indicates a 

 general atrophy of the organism in old age. Not only do the soft 

 parts, such as the muscles and the viscera, become lighter, but even the 

 skeleton loses weight in the old because of the diminution of mineral 

 matters. This decalcification during old age, extending to all parts 

 of the skeleton, causes a l)rittleness of the bones of the aged, which 

 often leads to fatal results. One of the greatest representatives of 

 medical science during the nineteenth centurv, Virchow, at the affe 

 of 8'2 years, in descending from a tramway, made a false step and 

 broke the neck of his fcnnn\ In spite of all the attention that could 

 be given liim he died of the general exhaustion of forces after remain- 

 ing several months in bed. Princess Mathilde fell in her chaml)er. 

 This fall, wliich Avould have had no bad result in a young person, 

 caused in this woman, 83 years old, a fracture of the neck of the fe- 

 mur. As in the ease of Virchow a prolonged confinement to l)ed led 

 to general malnutrition whicli terminated in death. This i)art of the 

 skeleton, the neck of the feunir, becomes particularly l)rittle in the 

 old because of osseous atrophy. 



The muscles are also nnich subject to atroj^hy during old age. 

 They lose in volume, the nniscuhir tissue becomes paler, the fat 

 between the muscular fasciculi diminishes in quantity and sometimes 

 almost completely disapj^ears. Movements also l^ecome slower and 

 muscular force diminishes. Measurements of the force of the hand 

 and of the trunk, made by means of dynamometers, show a progres- 

 sive diminution in the old. This enfeeblement is more ])ronounced in 

 men than in women. 



The volume and the weight of the viscera also diminishes, although 

 in a different ratio for dill'erent organs. In order to (wplain the gen- 

 eral atrophy of the body in old age an attempt has been made to ascer- 

 tain the intimate structure of the organs and tissues of the aged. The 

 visible numifestations of our organs represent the total of the func- 

 tions of the microscopic elements that enter into their constitution. 

 In order to understand the fornuition of (he calcareous deposits upon 

 which Paris is sifiuited, and by aid of which its houses are con- 

 structed, it is necessary to consider the properties of the mollusks that 

 have formed the shells which have accunndated and become cemented 

 together to produce the stones. In the same way, in order to judge 



